Improvement in sugar-evaporators



Patented July 29, 1856.

S. lH. GILMAN.

Evaporating Pan.

| l l l 1 Uiarrnn @raras Para-Nr @arreso SAML. H. GILMAN, OF NEV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

Imaam/EM ENT IN. sue'A-'a-EvAPcRAToRs.

Specification. forming part of Letters Patent No.' 55,4%! ll', (lated July 29,J 18'5 i by declare the following to be a full, clear, and: exact description of the same, vreference being;

had to the annexed drawings, made part of this specification, and lettered to correspond;

therewith.

For the reasons that four-fifths of the sugar is manufactured in a train of open kettles, varying in diameter from eighty-four inches- ,for the grande down to forty-two inches for the batteryg that the plantation,negroesi cannot handle to advantage the complex arrangements of open kettles boiled by direct heat, or of stcam-evaporators, as hitherto devised; that the mechanism, structure, andl manipulation of such plans are open to serious objections, and that from various causessuch as leakage in the tiling7 of the ordi# nary train of open kettles, brushing from one kettle into another from the battery to the grande, delays in passing up from the grande to the battery, the impossibility of assimilating the condition of any larger quantity than any one kettle of the old-fashioned train will hold, the dependence of the cleanness of the juice to be passed up77 resting entirely upon the care given bythe attendant, the uncertainty of the condition of things even under the best management, and when steam is used theliability to derangement in ysome of the necessarily complex arrangements when plantation hands only can be or are employed-I have made it the object of my invention to produce a plan for al circulating sugar-boiler which is simple enough to be worked by plantation negroes, is readily adapted to any sized plantation, and is free from the mostserions defects hitherto developed in the practical use of all plans not too philosophical nor too futile to be tried. This plan will econo mize fuel, increase evaporating-surface, come within the means (as to cost) of any sized plantation, pass up the juice in great quantity hydrostatically, and, most important of all, cleanly, will brush the scum of eachkettle into an appropriatel place, Will receive-al1 overflow in the same manner, will be=proof 'against all leakage, unlcssalmost; direct ef- 'forts are used to make it leak, and Will be 'easy of access `for cleansing orotherpurposes.

rlhe nature of my invention-consists in a train-ofopenkettles ofany suitable size-or number, set lengthwise centrally in along 'kettle,ywhich is-thus divided intotwo-side kettles, (in regard tothe train,) and which, lby a channel-way or juice-spaceth'at leads `from one to theoth'er of these divisions,` unv'derlies the train and forms the sides and'bot- 'tom of the flue, passing direct fromthel fur- 'nacel under the train of kettles, andv by the side kettles (into which the insertion ofv the Itrainy of central kettles divides it) and-'the vertical portion of the juice-space forms lthe 'top and-oneside of each return-flueyand,

again, by thelower` side of the juice-channel above mentioned forms-thetoplofithe flue leading to the chimney, thelong kettle `-communicating by a-pipe (which rises--upfrom lthe farthest division of i the channel--Ways-and ithrough themain ilue'formedl by the train andthe-long kettle) -with the central-kettle lnext to the battery, thusiilling this--kettlehyf- 'drostatically from a large body. ofassimila-ted juice; and, furthermore, brushing thegrandes land iirstkettle and-catching theiroverflowin lone set of 'troughs and providing* similarly for the remainder ofthe kettles by anotherv set'of troughs, so -that each kettleis-separated from the adjacentone and operated in andby itself. y

The construction of my planis--as follows:

`, Fig.4 1 is atop view.- Fig. 2isa lo-ngitudiynal vertical and central section. Fig;v 3 #is-an 'end elevation. Fig. iris a vertical cross-secltionfatV the line P`Q, the brick-Workj being shown, solasfto define the returnsideflfuea E and D; and the bottom Vdischarging#fli'iesfK.

A isthe -flue leadingl direct' from thefu-rnace. The top of'thisflueis frmedibylthe train yof kettles L MiN-0 R, and'fthe sides and bottomof this ue are formed by that'vportion "of the long kettle B C which, thu-s underly-k ing the flue, enables-the part B to communi- 'cate with the part C, and B C as onekettle-to communicate with the kettle Obfthetrain by means of the vertical pipe S, which f rises up fron this underlyingpart` forthis pu-rpose.` Suitable brick-Work orfmasonryconnectsthe flue `A`-with the return-ducal) and 2 Mea-2i E, which pass, respectively, under the portions B and C of the long pan. It will thus be perceived that the ilue A during its entire passage through the length of the kettles is surrounded by the iiuid to be boiled. The evaporating side kettles, B and C, are as wide as the return-dues D and E, so that the heat from these flues is made fully effective upon the bottoms of these side kettles. Suitable brick-work or masonry connects these returnflues D and E with the flue K, which passes beneath the bottom of the portion ofthe kettle B C that underlies the flue A. The iiue K passes off the results of combustion to the usual stack or chimney. -It will be observed also that the vertical portions of the juicespace or channel-way of the kettle B C form one side each of the return-lines D and E, Fig. 4L. It will be seen, therefore, that all the effective heat is applied to the largest surface which can be made available in the construction of a train of kettles set in a flue-surrounding and flue-covering kettle.

The dotted lines T U V and the dotted arrows W X Y (seen in plan-in Fig. l) show the channels -made from end to end of the flueunderlying part of the kettle B C by the partitions T U V, so that the iluid poured into B has to pass around bythe arrow W, and then back again, and round by the arrow X, before the fluid can rise up in the side portion C of the long kettle B C, and the iluid has to pass round by the arrow Y before it can have access to and rise up in the pipe S to the central kettle O at the battery end of the train. The partition U is put in contact with the pipe S. The partition V is also in contact with the pipe S. Thus as the pipe S rises up Ato the bottom of the central kettle O, next to the battery It, the iiuid must allpass with this i channel up the pipe and into the kettle O,

whence it is bailed out into the battery. Two troughs, F and G, run alongside each portion .B and C of the long kettle B C. Transverse troughs run athwart the train of central kettles and the long kettle in this wise. A transverse trough, J, divided into two parts transversely to itself at la, and discharging itself, as shown by the arrows, allows the central kettle O and the battery R to overflow or haye any scum or iloating impurity brushed therelinto and pass off into the trough G, running alongside the part C of the long kettle. A transverse trough, I, divided into two parts transversely to itself at b, and discharging itself, as shown by the arrows, allows the eentral (grandes) kettle M and N to overflow or have any scum or floating impurity brushed thereinto, and pass off into the trough F,run-

ning alongside the part B of the long kettle. v`A transverse trougli,H,divided into two parts transversely to itself at c, and discharging itself, as shown by the arrows, allows the central (grandes) kettle L to overflow or have any scum or iioating impurity brushed thereinto and pass Off into the'trough F. The portion B ofthe long kettle overiiows, or is cleansed by brushing any scum or impurity iioating therein into .the portions of the transverse troughs J, running athwart it near the batteryl end I about midway, and H at its grande end. The same arrangement at the other end of the transverse troughs, above mentioned, appertains to the portion C of the long kettle, with the exception that the troughs for B discharge into the long trough F, and those for C into the long trough G. The sides of the transverse troughs .I and I and the kettle side of the transverse trough H form the lower sides of the train of central kettles. The outer sides of the troughs F and G are higher than the central kettles, and the train of central kettles higher (except the transverse trough side) than the long kettle. The central kettles are all at one level on their highest sides, and the long kettle is of the level of the transverse troughs,Iand J of which pierce the sides of the train or,what is the same,have an issue therethrough, except at a and b, as above inentioned. kettles are cylindrical lengthwise the train.

The grandes L M N, as they may be termed, are oblong in the same line. The rcceiving-kettle O is nearly square, and the battery It oblong crosswisethe train. These proportions are not a necessity, and therefore are' not noted in definite measures. Suffice itto say that the longest kettles ordinarily cast or made are from six to seven feet in diameter for the grande', and the size is reduced till the smallest battery size is retained.

In my train of kettles it will be observed that I expose the ends of the train of central kettles to the heat by making the lower portions, or so much as constitutes the cylindrical portion, shorter than the portions above the level of the ilat bottoms of the long side kettles, B and C. It will be seen also that the cylindrical, part of L M N are of equal depth to each other, and are deeper than O, and O than R. Figs. 2 and 3 show this. It must be obvious that with a very slight increase in area required for the ordinary open train I attain a greatly increased flue-heating and evaporating surface. The largest train 0i' siX.

kettles, as they are now used, presents anamount of heating-surface to the iire and ilues of two hundred and fifty-four square feet, and requires one and one-half cord of wood per hour, which is equal to one cord of wood per hour for every one hundred and sixty-three square feet. The proportion of wood per l.hour to heating-surface in the best class of steam-evaporated sugar-boilers is one cord to one thousand square feet of heating-surface.

This sugar-boiler, as described, will have a proportion of eight hundred to twelve hundred square feet of heating-surface to each cord of wood per hour. This heat is directly applied, and'oi course not liable to the drawbacks of transfer of heat, loss by condensation, leakage, Sac., in transmittingthe steam The bottoms of the train of central from the steam-making boilers to the sugarboilers.

Over the ordinary open train of semi-spherical sugar-kettles this circulating sugar-boil ing arrangement, as described, has this ad First. Absolute protection against loss from boiling over. The rows of lglobular-formed open kettles are set in masonry by resting their flanges on a circular brick wall, which is the top of the furnace-wall beneath the kettles. Al brick wall, termed tiling,77 flares outward and upward to the height of a footer so above the iron flange, so that the diameter of the top of the tiling is considerably greater than the diameter of the top of the kettle. This tiling always crack and leaks more or less ofthe juice through into the fire, and the quantity thus lost can never be known and is seldom discovered until 'the fire is quenched thereby. y

Second. Facilities by'means of the arrangement of the troughs for brushing off the scum or other floating impurities into troughs along and level with the adjacent sides of the kettles in such wise that the scum or floating impurity is never passed from one to another kettle,

but is passed to other troughs or settling-res-v ervoirs, from which the juice can be collected with theleast possible loss of temperature, &c.

Third. Passing up in large quantity, by.

means of the long kettle, that portion of the juice in condition to be thrown into the battery, it being a well-known general law that fluids holdingin solution substances to be extracted therefrom work best and givethe most even and equable result as well in regard to quantity as quality when the fluids are in large bodies.

Fourth. Passing up the same circuitously, and after the firstladling into the side portion B hydrostatically, from the less to the more heated-that is, from the grande to the battery--end of the kettle B C, and thus se curing the cleanuess of the juice against any oversight or neglect of the hands i'n attendance, because the scum and impurities being of less and less specific gravity in comparison to the saceharine juice (owing to the increasing density of the juice) andthe currents due to the boiling process being from the battery to the grande end of the kettle B C, and ladling being done at and toward that end of B, the scum and impurities must rise and float i toward the grande end of the kettle B C, and

the purest juice alone reaches thevertical pipe S, rising up as it does from the most distant part of the channel from the grande' end and the nearest part of the flue-underlying channel to the kettle O at the battery end, thus beneficially bringing physical law into simple and effective operation, and in a manner always to. benet and liever to detract from the personal attention bestowed upon the sugar-making process. It will be observed that the scum and light impurities have the entirelength of the sideportions, B aud-C,

arrangement, and personal attention all comf bining to produce that result. I thus attain the most import-ant feature in the process of sugar-makingviz., bringing the juice clean and pure to the battery end, and so that no fears of cooking need be entertained.

Fifth. Increasing the evaporating-surfaees by at least one-half over the ordinary train of open kcttles (for each of the side kettles has an cvaporatingsurface of ninety square feet) without a proportionate increase in the number of kettles or in the area of the licor of the Y sugar-house occupied by my arrangement,

while at the same timethe flue-surface derived from my arrangement rivals the best plans known. Y

- Sixth. 'Affording facilities for cleansing, inasmuch as both the fire and juice sides are accessible without removing a bolt, other than those which fasten the caps ofthe juice-channels of the flueunderlying portion of the long kettle.

Seventh. Requiring no more hands than now attend on an ordinary open train, al though more than double the amount of surface has to be brushed, skimmed, and cleansed,' it being obvious that by my arrangement va greater area of juice-surface is offered to the skimmer and brush, the sugar being thereby made clean, because what scum and impurities cannot be readilybrushed into the troughs from the central kettles, owing to their violent boiling, is readily swept from the side divisions of the long kettle into the troughs, from the fact that the juice boiling up from the flue-underlying j nice-space, the scum and impurities float toward the troughs. It will also be observed that Iapply the heat at the 4battery end first, and the flues are so arranged that I can pass the heat first throughf the flue A, then return by the liues D and E, and then off by the flueK; but I can also use A and K as fines direct from the furnace, andi D and E as return-dues t-o the chimney; or I can use A alone, or all the llues, A D E vK, as direct ilues leading to the chimney. Whatever variation in the direction of the draft of the flues D E K may be given, (as it can be if required, by suitable masonry orbrick-work,) a

I always apply the heat directly from the furnace to the battery end of the train, because the striking point of sugar requires some 243 of heat, and the juice in the grandesmay be received as low as 900.

By the flue arrangement, as described, the

heat of the furnace passes along the fluesur` faces of the kettles a distance of one hundred and eight feet, or as long as the heat can be economically applied. l

Having thus fully, clearly,and exactly described the nature, object, and construction of my improvement in circulating boiler for 4 MAM making sugar, &e., I claim as new and 0f my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent" 1. The. combination of the long kettle B C with the train of kettles LM N O R, the pipe S, the serpentine Channel T U V, and the fireues A D E K, in the mumer and for the purposes specified.

2. The combination of the troughs F,'G, H, I, and J with the train of kettles L MN O R, and the long kettle B C, in the manner :tud for the purposes specified.

SAMUEL H. GILMAN. Vi tnesses:

DAVID P. PUGI-I, FRAN. SLOOTER. 

